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AnonymousDFB1

By AnonymousDFB1
in Malta 1940 - 42 GB

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Peter Lloyd Obsessed Member

Peter Lloyd

Posted
Posted

I've been reading "George Cross Island" from the Purnell History of the Second World War serialised history published in the 1960s. Like most articles in the series, it is written by a participant, fighter pilot Charles Maclean. The following passage struck me:

"At the lowest ebb of dejection an incident occurred that put the fire back inot the blood of every pilot. Nine Stukas flew over and dive-bombed a military hospital, the white and red crosses of which were huge enough to be clearly seen from 20,000 feet. It was no mistake: it was deliberate murder of maimed, injured and defenceless men.

Until this happened, it was common to see the Luftwaffe's 'blood wagon', a Dornier 18 flying boat, picking up a shot-down pilot. Nobody bothered as it nochalantly took off back to Sicily. But on the day following the massacre, a pilot named Scott impulsively jumped into his Spitfire, roared off Takali and, staying on the deck, blasted the Dornier out of the water, shot down the two Me-109 escorts, then strafed the men in the water.

Although the commanders exploded at this, from that day on it was complete and total war against the Luftwaffe... the Germans were strafed in their dinghies, in the water, dangling from their parachutes. And whan 'Jumbo' Gracie was promoted to Wing Commander and given command of Takali, his daily orders were always headed 'IT IS THE DUTY OF EVERY AIRMAN TO KILL THE HUN'."

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Iain Ogilvie Very Obsessed Member

Iain Ogilvie

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Posted (edited)

OK - today I've been mostly sent some family info that means I have even more of a connection to the island than I previously thought - so I've got to dive in on this one.

Have three possibles:

1:35 Matilda Tank 'GALLANT' - in the Malta 'Stone Wall' camouflage. Can anyone confirm colours?

1:32 Macchi C.200 - aircraft of the 90th Squadriglia, 10th Grupp, Sicily 1941 - have photo of aircraft escorting Fiat Br 20 bombers on raid against Malta.

1:32 Macchi C.202 - MM7848 flown by Sergente Maggiore Faliero Gelli of the 378 Squadrilia, 155 Gruppo, 51st Stormo - shot down over Gozo by George "Buzz" Beurling while escorting nine German Ju-88s in mission over Malta. July 27th 1942

I used to be indecisive - now I'm not so sure...

Suggestions please!

EDIT - Made a start on option 3 - the Folgore :)

Iain

Edited by Iain (32SIG)
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CanadaMoe New Member

CanadaMoe

Posted
Posted

Hello Everyone,

Don't know it this goes here, but here goes.

I'm building a BF109F based at Comiso, Sicily - Feb. 1942

(Ref: Osprey BF109 Aces of N. Africa and the Mediterranean -pg47 plate 42)

I only have a side view to work from and my question is the spinner colour/marking.

Is it half white/half black or three-quarter black- one-quarter white or three quarter white and one quarter black?

Did these spinner colours/markings mean anything in terms of rank or aircraft role?

TIA

Moe

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JackG Very Obsessed Member

JackG

Posted
Posted

In those photos that afford a decent viewing angle, the nose appears to be one third white. The black is actually RLM70 Schwarzgrün (black green) and is also the same colour used for the prop blades.

I haven't seen any mention of there being a significance to the nose colour, but it does seem all JG 53 aircraft were painted like this during the summer of '42.

http://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109F/Bf-109F...ly-1942-01.htmlhttp://www.asisbiz.com/il2/Bf-109F/Bf-109F...ly-1942-01.html

regards,

Jack

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maltadefender Very Obsessed Member

maltadefender

Posted
Posted
OK - today I've been mostly sent some family info that means I have even more of a connection to the island than I previously thought - so I've got to dive in on this one.

Have three possibles:

1:35 Matilda Tank 'GALLANT' - in the Malta 'Stone Wall' camouflage. Can anyone confirm colours?

1:32 Macchi C.200 - aircraft of the 90th Squadriglia, 10th Grupp, Sicily 1941 - have photo of aircraft escorting Fiat Br 20 bombers on raid against Malta.

1:32 Macchi C.202 - MM7848 flown by Sergente Maggiore Faliero Gelli of the 378 Squadrilia, 155 Gruppo, 51st Stormo - shot down over Gozo by George "Buzz" Beurling while escorting nine German Ju-88s in mission over Malta. July 27th 1942

I used to be indecisive - now I'm not so sure...

Suggestions please!

EDIT - Made a start on option 3 - the Folgore :)

Iain

Hi Iain,

Very glad to see the Macchi 202 underway - gorgeous aircraft. Good to see the Regia Aeronautica's ranks swelling a bit more too on the GB.

For the Matilda - and armour generally - how the 'Malta scheme' was painted would depend on what colour the equipment arrived in. If it arrived in dark green it would get sand-coloured blobs painted on top, whereas desert-painted equipment would get dark green patterns painted on. Looking at photos of Matildas I think the latter would be the case - just like these restored items in the Malta War Museum:

1382f359.jpg

09148b24.jpg

Fully intend to do a Matilda myself at some stage soon. Maybe after the GB.

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Iain Ogilvie Very Obsessed Member

Iain Ogilvie

Posted
Posted

That's what I thought - then I found this discussion over on IPMS Malta's forum - which I've joined :)

Quoting David Vassallo "painted in stone Maltese stone and the camo was in brown"...

Have dug out the Matilda - if I'm feeling brave I may make a start :)

Iain

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JackG Very Obsessed Member

JackG

Posted
Posted

Mike Starmer has done some fairly in depth research on British vehicle colours, and here is an excerpt from the web site:

Malta adopted a distinctive design generally known as ‘rubble’, a series of light coloured blocks with a darker colour as ‘cement’ lines. This scheme varied immensely, from the neat appearance of stonework through crazy paving to straight lines like a chessboard. The colours varied from Khaki Green No. 3 lines with Light Stone No.61 or Portland Stone No.64 ‘stones’ over it to darker lines painted over the original sand colour depending on country of origin.

He also provides recipes to mix these colours using humbrol paints.

regards,

Jack

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Killingholme Very Obsessed Member

Killingholme

Posted
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Hi guys

I have just spent some residual gift-token money on an Italeri Fiat C.42.

I know literally nothing about Italian Airforce machines. I have identified some C.42 squadrons involved in Malta, but can't seem to find any profiles or colour details. Could anyone suggest anything that would be appropriate for this GB?

I like the look of the all-black CR.42 nightfighters (and not just because the camo is less scary!). Would any of these have been involved in the Malta siege?

Will

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maltadefender Very Obsessed Member

maltadefender

Posted
Posted
Hi guys

I have just spent some residual gift-token money on an Italeri Fiat C.42.

I know literally nothing about Italian Airforce machines. I have identified some C.42 squadrons involved in Malta, but can't seem to find any profiles or colour details. Could anyone suggest anything that would be appropriate for this GB?

I like the look of the all-black CR.42 nightfighters (and not just because the camo is less scary!). Would any of these have been involved in the Malta siege?

Will

Hi Will,

Yes absolutely night fighters were in the mix. I'll dig out the relevant squadriglia, but as I recall the black one in the Italeri markings sheet is a Malta campaign job.

Looking forward to it - need a few more 'bipes' I think!

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Killingholme Very Obsessed Member

Killingholme

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Great news, thanks. I must admit those night fighter CR42s really do look quite sexy. (the fact it is easy to paint has nothing to do with it...)

cheers for the info. If you happen across anything else relating to the night fighters in the future, please remember me!

regards,

Will

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Misterfriend Established Member

Misterfriend

Posted
Posted

I've also got the Italeri Fiat CR-42 that I would love to build for this GB. Does anyone know of any decals available for it that would cover planes used? I know Sky did a massive 1/72 set but they seem to have sold out everywhere including ebay.

cheers

Segan

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maltadefender Very Obsessed Member

maltadefender

Posted
Posted
I've also got the Italeri Fiat CR-42 that I would love to build for this GB. Does anyone know of any decals available for it that would cover planes used? I know Sky did a massive 1/72 set but they seem to have sold out everywhere including ebay.

cheers

Segan

Is it 1/72 or 1/48 Segan?

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usetherudders Established Member

usetherudders

Posted
Posted (edited)

Unfortunately not taking part in this Group Build at the moment, I may have to look in the stash, a Macchi 202 which wouldn't qualify as I just have camo to do. I do have a Stuka and Fiat BR20.

Having been to Malta a fair few times and visited the excellent museum there, here's a couple of pictures of the Spitfire that resides there.

MaltaSpitfire2.jpg

MaltaSpitfire1.jpg

As a side note my mothers late god father was a pilot Regia Aeronautia and flew the SM.79 in the Malta campaign. Wouldn't have a clue as the Grupo but just remember seeing his pictures and wings as 13 yr old.

Edited by usetherudders
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maltadefender Very Obsessed Member

maltadefender

Posted
Posted
Unfortunately not taking part in this Group Build at the moment, I may have to look in the stash, a Macchi 202 which wouldn't qualify as I just have camo to do. I do have a Stuka and Fiat BR20.

Having been to Malta a fair few times and visited the excellent museum there, here's a couple of pictures of the Spitfire that resides there.

MaltaSpitfire2.jpg

MaltaSpitfire1.jpg

As a side note my mothers late god father was a pilot Regia Aeronautia and flew the SM.79 in the Malta campaign. Wouldn't have a clue as the Grupo but just remember seeing his pictures and wings as 13 yr old.

Happy memories of that particular museum, thanks for the pics!

I've made up some decals for an Airfix Mk.IX to build a little replica of this one - I like the 'reverse' camouflage pattern.

Sorry you can't join us but thanks for looking in and supporting :thumbsup:

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maltadefender Very Obsessed Member

maltadefender

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Posted

As promised, we now have some prizes for the GB. I hope you agree it's fantastic news for the GB and something that will keep us all hard at it from now until the end of June.

Prize announcement

Happy building!

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maltadefender Very Obsessed Member

maltadefender

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Glad you are Enzo - me too! Been a bit preoccupied this week but hoping to have current pair finished tomorrow or Monday.

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Peter Marshall Very Obsessed Member

Peter Marshall

Posted
Posted

Hi,

Does anyone have the Skymodels CR 42 sheets ? I've got the Italeri Cr.42 AS kit, and none of the kit schemes would be suitable for this gb, but looking on Hannants website at the 2 Skymodels sheets it's impossible to see if any of the schemes are suitable.

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SKY48036

http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/SKY48037

Can anyone tell me which sheet has a scheme suitable for the GB ?

Thanks.

Peter

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